Railing



April l, 1952 w. w. BUSH 22,590,929

RAILING Filed NOV. 19, 1947 WIBIYLIHM' W. BU5H,

ATTRNEY Patented Apr. 1, 1952 RAILING William W. Bush, Essex Fells, N. J.

Application November 19, 1947, Serial No. 786,873

Claims.

This invention relates in general to railing, and while the invention particularly contemplates metal railing for use on inside stairways, balconies, and the like, the invention may be embodied in railing for other purposes.

One object of the invention is to provide a railing comprising upper and lower rails and pales embodying novel and improved features of construction, whereby the rails and pales can be prefabricated individually, transported in knocked- 'downor disassembled condition, and easily and quickly assembled or put together at the site of installation of the railing with a minimum of labor and at low cost.

-Further objects are to provide a novel and improved railing of this character wherein the pales can be assembled in the rails by simply sliding the pales longitudinally into the rails from one end thereof; and to provide novel and improved means for spacing the pales, and for permitting varia tions in the spacing and shapes of the pales, i

whereby the designs of the railing may be modiiied with a minimum of diiculty and expense.

Another object of the invention is to provide railing of the general character described which shall include a novel and improved construction, combination and arrangement of top andbottom rails and pales whereby the railing can be adapted to stairways of diierent slopes or angles, and the pales shall be held in the desired spaced relation to each other by spacer plates that shall at the same time brace the pales at the desired angle relative to the rails.

Other objects of the invention are to provide in such railing novel and improved means for fas-` tening the upper and lower rails to supporting posts; to provide railing of this character that can be rapidly assembled with a minimum of fastener elements; to provide a novel and improved post for Such railing and means for securing it to a support, such as a floor; and to obtain other objects, results and advantages that will be brought out by the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a section or unit ofv railing embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of one end of the railing unit shownV in Figure 1, with portions shown in central longiw tudinal vertical section;

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view, taken approximately on the planes of the line 3 3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentarytransverse vertical sectional view, approximately on the plane of the line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figures 5 and 6 are fragmentary sectional elevational views, showing the arrangement of the upper and lower rails, and pales for stairways of different angles or inclinations, and

l Figure 7 is an exploded fragmentary perspective view of the lower portion of the railing post.

Specifically describing the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the railing comprises lower and upper rails I-and 2 that are mounted on and between posts 3 which are in turn adapted to be secured to a support, such as a floor 4. The two rails l and 2 are channel-shaped and'identieal in construction and open at both ends, but the upper rail has its channel 5 facing downwardly while the channel 5 of the lower rail faces upwardly. `In actual manufacture, these rails would be cut from long bars of material to the length desired for a given railing unit, such as shown in Figure 1. The channels 5 are of a width slightly greater than the width 0f the pales 6 that are mounted between the rails I and 2, so that the pales can be`l freely slid laterally into each channel 5 from either end of the channel. The pales may be of any suitable construction, either straight or curved, but are shown as comprising straight metal tubes, square in cross section. For securing the pales in the rails, each rail has a longitudinal rib 'l extending from end to end and inwardly from at least one side wall of its channel, preferably both walls, and each pale G has adjacent each end thereof slots 8 to receive the respective ribs 1, so that when the pales are slid laterally into the channels 5 of the rails with one of the ribs 'l in each of the slots 3 of each pale, the pales will be connected and held against endwise. movement relatively to the rails.

For spacing the pales and holding them against lateral movement, or in a direction lengthwise of the rails, a spacer element is arranged between each two adjacent pales and, as shown, spacer plates 5 are slidable endwise into longitudinal grooves IB in the` side walls of the respective channels 5, there being also one of said spacer plates in each rail between the endmost pale and the adjacent post 3, as best shown in Figure 2 of the rawing. Thus, the pales may be held firmly in the desired spaced relation to each other and to the posts, and by simply varying the lengths of the spacer plates, the spacing of the pales may be varied to provide different designs. 1f desired, bent orcurved or ornamental pales may be used, thereby vmaking possible the construction of railings in a widevariety of designs.

-The rails I Vand 2 may be connected to the posts 3 in any suitable manner, but I have shown angle pieces II each having one arm fitted into the channel of the corresponding rail and clamped at one side of the ribs 'I by a bolt I2, while the other arm is secured by a bolt I3 to the post 3. It will be understood that in fabricating and assembling the parts, the rails may be of such length that when they are connected to the posts as described, the angle pieces II are tightly pushed against the endmost spacer plates so that the latter will be tightly pushed against the endmost pales and the other pales and spacer plates will be forced into tightly abutting relation. With this construction, the pales and rails will be firmly held together and to the posts by the angle pieces which serve as clamping elements.

Where the railing is to be used on stairways or other sloping surfaces, rails of the same construction as the rails I and 2 are utilized, and the pales may be the same except that the slots in the pales and the ends of the pales are cut obliquely or in inclined relation to the longitudinal axes of the pales; and the slots are shaped so that the rails may be arranged at different angles to the horizontal as may be necessary to accommodate the stairway or slop-ing surface on which the rail is mounted. Figure 5 shows the rails disposed at one angle to the horizontal, while Figure 6 shows the rails at another angle. The pales I6 are identical in each case, and the upper and lower sides I5 and I6 of the slots I'I in the pales are disposed at angles to each other that constitute the difference between the low rail angle of Figure 5 and the high or steep rail angle of Figure 6, said upper and lower sides of the slots at the narrow ends of the latter being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the ribs 7 on the rails.

With such a construction, after the pales have been assembled in the rails, the railing may be adjusted to the required angle by simply racking the upper and lower rails. In this construction, the spacer plates 9 back up or brace the palings at the set angle when the rails are secured to the posts 3. Of course, the ends of the rails must be beveled and the angles of th'e arms of the angle pieces II must also be modified to conform to the angles of meeting of the ends of the rails and the vertical side walls of the posts.

In some cases, it may be desirable to provide an ornamental or reenforcing cap on the upper rail, and for this purpose, the rails may have exterior longitudinal flanges I8 over which an inverted channel-shaped cap I9 may be slid, the side walls of the channel having grooves to slidably receive the flanges I 8.

The post may be secured to the supports, such as floors, in any suitable manner, but preferably the post is polygonal in cross section and is cut away transversely of its angles at its lower end, as indicated at 2|', so as to form ears 22 to slip through an opening 23 in a foot plate 24 with shoulders 25, that are formed by the cut-away portions 2l, resting on the top of the foot plate. After the ears 22 have been inserted through the opening 23, they are bent outwardly beneath the foot plate, as indicated at 26 in Figure 2, and then the assembled post and foot plate are set upon a base plate 2l with a spacer ring 28 between the foot plate and the base plate to compensate for the thickness of the `ears 22. The plates are then secured together and to the support or floor by any suitable means, such as bolts or lag screws 29. If desired, the base plate 21 may be omitted.

While I have shown and described the invention as embodied in certain details of construction, it should be understood that this is primarily for the purpose of illustrating the principles of the invention and that many modifications and changes can be made in the structure of the railing within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. Railing comprising channel-shaped upper and lower rails whose channels face each other` and open through the ends of the rails, a rib extending longitudinally from end to end of each rail and projecting into the channel from a side Wall thereof, pales whose end portions are slidable laterally into said channels respectively through the open ends thereof and which have transverse slots through which said rib extends to interlock said pales with said rails, said rails having longitudinal grooves in the side walls of said channels, 4and spacer plates mounted in said grooves between said pales to hold the pales in predetermined spaced relation.

2. Railing comprising channel-shaped upper and lower rails whose channels face each other and open through the ends of the rails, a rib extending longitudinally from end to end of each rail and projecting into the channel from a side wall thereof, pales whose end portions are disposed within said channels respectively and have transverse slots through which said rib extends to interiock said pales with said rails, longitudinal grooves in the side walls of said channels, a spacer plate mounted to slide in said grooves between each two adjacent pales of each rail, and similar spacer plates between each of the endmost pales and the corresponding end of the rail, and a clamping element on each end of each rail abutting the outer end of the adjacent spacer plate, at least one of said elements on each rail being adjustable longitudinally of the rail, whereby said clamping elements may be tightly pushed against the endmost spacer plates so that the latter will be tightly pushed against the endmost pales and the other pales and spacer plates will be forced into tightly abutting relation and firmly clamped yand held against movement relatively to said rails.

3. Railing comprising upper and lower rails, a plurality of pales, means connecting the ends of said pales to said rails respectively with the rails movable while so connected into diierent angular relations to said pales, and means holding said pales in predetermined spaced relation to each other, two posts, means connecting the ends of said rails to said posts to hold the rails in a desired angular relation to said pales, yand spacer elements between adjacent pales and between the endmost pales and the respective posts.

4. Railing comprising upper and lower rails, a plurality of pales, means connecting the ends of said pales to said rails respectively with the rails movable while so connected into different angular relations to said pales, and means holding said pales in predetermined spaced relation to each other, said rails being channel-shaped, the upper and lower ends of the pales being dis posed in the respective channels, and the second-named means including a longitudinal rib on one side wall of and projecting into said channel and into transverse slots in said pales, each slot being of slightly greater width at one end than said rib and wider at its other end and the slot at one end of each pale being arranged reversely to the slot at the other end of the pale.

5. Railing comprising upper and lower rails.

aaodeao -ing said pales in predetermined spaced relation to each other, said rails being channel-shaped, the'upper and lower ends of the pales being disposed in the respective channels, and the second-named means including a longitudinal rib on one side Wall of and projecting into said channel and into transverse slots in said pales, each slot being'of slightly greater Width at one end than said rib and the opposite sides of said slots diverging from said end at an angle that represents the diierence between two angles of in- 15 `2,431,546

clination of said rails.

WILLIAM W. BUSH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 297,295 Rogers Apr. 22, 1884 i 888,905 Johnson May 26, 1908 1,376,150 Miller Apr. 26, 1921 1,725,507 Clement Apr. 20, 1929 1,761,508 Williams June 3, 1930 1,895,186 Free Jan. 24, 1933 2,218,954 Gustafson Oct. 22, 1940 2,407,721 Nauert Sept. 17, 1946 Edwards Nov. 25, 1947 

